Tuesday of the First Week of Lent. The reading is from Gospel of Matthew 6:5-15.

Teaching about Prayer – Matthew 6:5-15

[Jesus said to his disciples:]

“When you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, who love to stand and pray in the synagogues and on street corners so that others may see them.

Amen, I say to you, they have received their reward.

But when you pray, go to your inner room, close the door, and pray to your Father in secret.

And your Father who sees in secret will repay you.

“In praying, do not babble like the pagans, who think that they will be heard because of their many words.

Do not be like them.

Your Father knows what you need before you ask him.

“This is how you are to pray:

Our Father who art in heaven,
hallowed be thy name,
thy Kingdom come,
thy will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread;
and forgive us our trespasses,
as we forgive those who trespass against us;
and lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil.

“If you forgive men their transgressions,
your heavenly Father will forgive you.
But if you do not forgive men,
neither will your Father forgive your transgressions.

When his disciples ask Jesus to teach them to pray, he tells them:

“When you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, who love to stand and pray in the synagogues and on street corners so that others may see them. Amen, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you pray, go to your inner room, close the door, and pray to your Father in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will repay you.” (Mathew 6:5-6)

And then Jesus presents them with an example of a communal prayer that stresses the fatherhood of God and acknowledges him as the one to whom all of us owe our daily sustenance, forgiveness, and deliverance from the final trial.

I love listening to the mellow voice of my all-time favourite singer late gentleman Jim Reeves. My heart starts palpitating and tears flow from my eyes whenever I listen to his rendering of “Daddy my daddy teach me how to pray …”

Lyrics

One night a sleepy little boy knelt beside his bed. He smiled and looked into my eyes and this is what he said: “Daddy, my daddy, you’ve taught me lots today; So daddy, my daddy, teach me how to pray.”

“You brought me home a brand new kite, and you showed me how to fly; And there ain’t no other kid whose dad can knock a ball so high; I’d like to thank God for you but I don’t know what to say; So daddy, my daddy, teach me how to pray.”

I had to turn and leave this room and he began to cry. I didn’t want my boy to know but so did I His best pal had forsaken him but what was there to say? For daddy, his daddy had forgotten how to pray.